Box Score LORMAN, Miss.—Trailing 61-60 with 13 seconds left the Hornets were able to steal the ball and had three shots at a winning basket, but all three missed their mark as Alcorn State (4-14/2-5 SWAC) held on for the one-point win over Alabama State University (7-11/4-2 SWAC).
 
“We did exactly what we wanted in those final seconds, we trapped them and got them to throw a lazy pass and Ryan intercepted it,” head coach Lewis Jackson said.  “We were able to get the ball into the paint and had three or four good shots and they just did not go in.”

The final hectic seconds was set up when Ryan Watts was able to steal a pass and get the ball to Tramaine Butler, who was able to get into the lane but came up short on his shot.  Stephawn Butler was able to run down the rebound and his bank shot from eight feet rolled off the front of the rim.  ASU's final attempt came on a tip in from Luther Page that did not find the mark.
 
The Hornets had four players reach double figures led by Butler's game-high 19 points.  Ivory White added 12 and Watts and Stephawn Brown added 10 each.  Brown made his second consecutive start in place of Kenderek Washington who missed his second game.
 
The Braves also had four players reach double digits led by Xavian Rimmer's 13.  Anthony Nieves came off the bench to add 12 while Ken McDonald had 11 and Twann Oakley had 10.
 
Both teams shot lights out in the second half with ASU shooting 75 percent (15-20) and Alcorn State shooting 69 percent (13-19).  ASU won the rebounding battle 21-19.  Both teams also shot their free throws well with Alcorn hitting 13 of their 15 attempts (87%) and ASU hitting 10 of their 14 attempts for 71 percent.
 
It all came down to the last shot when the Hornets were unable to get one of their final three attempts to go in.
 
“We got stagnant in our offense with too many guys trying to do too much and then making bad passes,” head coach Lewis Jackson said.  “You have to give Alcorn credit, they made their free throws down the stretch to stay ahead of us, but again, we had our opportunities and we just did not take advantage of them.”
 
Neither team was able to generate much offense in the first half as the Braves took a 22-21 lead into halftime.  Alcorn State only shot 32 percent from the field and ASU was even worse knocking down 29 percent of their shots.  The Hornets were able to hit three of their nine three-point attempts and outrebounded the taller Braves 16-12.  Butler kept ASU in the game scoring 12 of his points.
 
The problem for ASU, which turned out to be a theme for the night, they had an uncharacteristic 10 turnovers in the opening half.   Both Jeff Middlebrooks and Ivory White picked up two fouls early and the Hornets had to use their backups against the full court pressure of Alcorn State.
 
The Hornets will continue this road swing Monday night when they play at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La.  The opening tip has been set for 7:30 p.m.